TikTok said to be monitoring users who watch LGBT content

TikTok has reportedly been making lists of its users who watch LGBT-related content, which it uses to monitor viewing habits.

TikTok has grown rapidly to become one of the most popular social media sites in the world, but it has now faced new accusations over its handling of the LGBT community.

The Wall Street Journal revealed that former TikTok employees unhappy about the internal policy had come forward about the plan after complaining about it to TikTok’s management.

These allegations are the latest in a long line of accusations against the tech giant over how it handles user data.

Ex-TikTok employees fear data could be used to blackmail users

According to the staffers, TikTok closely monitors users who engage with posts tagged as LGBT. These users are then allegedly listed on a dashboard.

The former TikTok workers, who operated out of the company’s offices in America, Australia, and the UK, said they confronted top bosses over the policy in 2020, and again in 2021.

One of their biggest concerns about the monitoring was that the personal information collected on users who watch LGBT content on TikTok could be used as blackmail, or shared with external companies.

In response to the Journal, TikTok said: “Safeguarding the privacy and security of people who use TikTok is one of our top priorities”.

This isn’t the first time TikTok has come under fire for how it handles data usage. Earlier this year in March, TikTok’s CEO faced a hearing in Congress where he was asked about the steps the site was taking to ensure user data was handled correctly.

For more news and updates on TikTok, check out our guide to all the slang used on the site.